Editorials

Editorials and Letters to the Editor are posted and archived on JN Online:

www.detroitjewishnews.com

A Jewish World Series

T

he World Series of Judaism is upon
us. Late this Saturday evening, Sept.
23, begins Selichot, the unofficial
beginning of the High Holy Days
season. For some Jews, it is an unfamiliar
observance. It falls on Saturday evening before
the start of Rosh Hashanah and at midnight
begin the moving, penetrating melodies and
prayers that can help focus mind and spirit on
the moments leading up to the Days of Awe.
Indeed, for the next month, Jews every-
where will celebrate the time-honored ways of
our people, ones that have not only sustained,
but nurtured Jews through the ages. We will
dip apples in honey to remember life's sweet-
ness. We will hear the clarion cry of the ram's
horn to stir our souls to repentance. We will
joyously dance with the Torah to honor all it
has done for us. We will eat in flimsy booths to
be reminded of our people's humble origins as
well as life's fragility. Mostly, we will be with
fellow Jews, our family and guests, celebrating
our heritage and showing its powerful impact
today.
And it all begins with Saturday evening.
Certainly in metro Detroit, it is difficult to
ignore the buzz at this time of year — whether in
the more-crowded-than-usual supermarkets, the

,

Related stories: pages 62 and 69

holiday greetings tossed out on street corners or
sent by mail, and the greater numbers of people
walking or maneuvering cars into crammed park-
ing lots on the holidays themselves.
Of course, not everyone plans to participate.
The reasons are familiar: distaste for a rabbi or
congregation; the perceived message sent by
"pay to pray"; the simple boredom that comes
from lack of familiarity with Hebrew or ritual.
Rather than respond with the simplistic,
"If you went more, you'd understand," it's
best to meet such people where they are,
instead of where one might want them to be.
Recognize that while their concerns can be
countered, a broad swath of unaffiliated Jews
share them.
What can be done? Regular synagogue par-
ticipants can identify someone — perhaps a
relative or friend — who is not captivated by
the High Holy Days. Invite them to be a guest
in synagogue, or at least for a meal. Take time
to explain the holidays' significance, without
speaking down. Ask what moves them — and
what doesn't — and listen closely.
As many Jews spiritually prepare for the fall
observances, those who are involved can actively
bring that warmth and depth to others to share.
With Selichot, the metaphorical first ball is being
tossed from the pitcher's mound. Do we, individ-
ually and as a community, have the stamina to
bring more people onto the playing field? ❑

Dry Bones

r6eti 50604

t(6 A R L?6 SPIALL

Ge r -r- HL? Fia,Ds
to) oRcmARDs

REST.

r.FoR

FIELDS Awt.
oRCI-LARDS
D6SE R VE11-1

A REST-

Where Community Thrives

ormer Oak Park Mayor David H. Shepherd
died 19 years ago this month at age 53.
Were he alive today, the local businessman,
city councilman and 10-year mayor would
be mighty proud of the city he so loved. He'd surely
be pleased that three of the larger synagogues in Oak
Park chose renovation over relocation.
Shepherd worked hard to keep the city afloat during
the trying times of the 1970s, after three heady decades.
The former Oak Park Park on Oak Park Boulevard was
renamed for him. Shepherd also held national stature as
one of 10- American mayors sent by the U.S. Confer-
ence of Mayors to Israel to help the young nation
devise new approaches to city government.
Today, Oak Park is a vibrant, multiethnic city of
31,000, including many Jews.
Jewish families are snapping up homes in north
Oak Park, the area north of 10 Mile Road, often
before the "For Sale" sign goes up. That's thanks in
part to the United Jewish Foundation of Metropoli-
tan Detroit-supported Neighborhood Project, a pro-
gram that offers interest-free incentive loans to Jew-
ish home buyers and renovators.
Jewish entrepreneurs are responsible for bring-
ing to the city a business infrastructure that pro-
vides basic goods and services in new or renovat-
ed shopping centers.

El

Jewish retailers have found Oak Park to be very
neighborly, with plenty of community spirit and
little infighting, even if prosperity isn't assured.
A generation ago,.the Orthodox community
showed its clout by doggedly gaining political sup-
port and winning federal approval for three parks
built on decks over Interstate 696. The parks, one of
which is in Southfield, are important to Jews who
walk to shul on Shabbat and holidays.
The grassroots coalition formed by the Orthodox
community later received pivotal support from
Mayor Shepherd and, after his death, the late Mayor
Charlotte Rothstein.
For 100 years, Jews have moved northwesterly
from the Detroit "shtetl" near Hastings Street,
where Eastern European immigrants settled in the
1890s. Oak Park was the Jewish suburb at mid-cen-
tury, before synagogues sprouted in Southfield and
West Bloomfield.
But Oak Park no longer takes a back seat to any
of its larger neighbors to the west.
Today, 1950s ranches in Oak Park survive in the
shadows of double-lot mansions; black-hat Jews live
amid young Reform and Conservative families; New
Americans mingle with unaffiliated Jews who have
moved back from Troy, Farmington Hills, West
Bloomfield and Novi; inter-stream communal events

flourish; and public schools still draw Jewish sup-
port, despite the loss of many Jewish students to day
schools or newer suburbs.
No wonder that north Oak Park is a national
model for Jewish identity and pluralism.
The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
played key roles in sponsoring the senior housing
that arose from a landmark "mitigation" deal cut by
the coalition activists with the federal Carter admin-
istration and affirmed by the Reagan administration.
Federation also was integral in the conversion of the
Jimmy Prentis Morris Building into a full-fledged
Jewish Community Center and the former Congre-
gation B'nai Moshe property into the Sally Allan
Alexander Beth Jacob School for Girls.
Significantly, Temple Emanu-El (Reform), Con-
gregation Beth Shalom (Conservative) and Young
Israel of Oak Park (Orthodox) all chose to invest in
the community rather than move elsewhere. The
newest renovation is Beth Shalom's educational
wing, which opened officially on Sept. 10.
Leaders like David Shepherd, who served on the
city council or the school board during the key
growth and transitional years, are indelible parts of
Oak Park's legacy. They inspired the sense of unity,
continuity and Yida'ishkeit (Jewishness) that perme-
ate the city's Jewish neighborhoods today.

❑

9/22

2000

37'•

